A Study Of Correlation Between English Learning Motivation Types And Self-identity Changes Of Undergraduates

Nowadays,an increasing number of international cooperative education programs are brought to public attention.During its rapid development,however,a series of problems related also arouse people's concerns.For example,is there any difference between students who were in international cooperative education programs and those not in terms of their language learning performance? Maybe the answer can be acquired from the correlation between language learning motivations and self-identity changes of the students.On the one hand,language learning motivation is one of the most influential factors for language learning achievement.On the other hand,as the non-linguistic outcome of language learning,self-identity changes can reflect students' attitudes towards language learning.Based on previous researches,this study adopts English Learning Motivation Scale for Undergraduates and Self-identity Changes Scale designed by Gao Yihong(2013).209 students from Chongqing University-University of Cincinnati Joint Co-op Institute and Mechanical Engineering College of Chongqing University are participants,8 of who are randomly selected and interviewed to investigate the correlation between English learning motivation types and self-identity changes.The results are as follows,1)The students who are not in the international cooperative education program learn English mainly out of instrumental motivation,while those who are in the program learn English because of instrumental and cultural motivation.2)During the English learning process,the self-identity of the students who are not in the international cooperative education program almost not change,while the students who are in the program show much more confidence and gain a deeper understanding of target language and mother language as well as their culture.3)For the students who are not in the international cooperative education program,there is a close correlation between their instrumental motivation and a low self-identity changes rate.For the students who are in the program,their instrumental and cultural motivation contribute to a deeper love for English language and culture.Meanwhile the positive cultural changes of self-identity result in the reinforcement of students' cultural motivation.According to the research results,more international cooperative programs are encouraged to promote our university English teaching.Besides,teachers should intentionally cultivate students' cultural learning motivations in order to combineEnglish learning and professional learning.